How Period Poverty Causes Serious Issues for Women and Girls

Here’s what happens when you can’t afford to get your period.

Photo by Josefin on Unsplash

It’s happened to every woman at least once in their lives, if not many times: your period comes at a time you’re not expecting it and you realize you don’t have any sanitary products.

It can be a huge inconvenience, but most of us muddle through. We pop into the pharmacy to buy some. We borrow something from a friend or a coworker. We improvise until we can get home.

But what happens when you’re too poor to afford to buy tampons or pads?

I got my first period on Christmas Eve 1980. The fact that I remember the exact date tells you how traumatic it was.

I had just turned 13 and my mother, who years before had gotten a hysterectomy, didn’t keep period supplies around anymore. She was less than helpful when I came up to her, face red with embarrassment, and whispered my predicament.

“Great, Rose got her period,” she loudly announced to the entire family.

“It’s Christmas Eve, all the stores are closed so I can’t do anything about it. And we don’t have money for maxi pads anyway,” she grumbled.